HDFC Life

26 Oct

Confident of maintaining 15- 20% growth in VNB – HDFC Life

Update on the Indian Equity Market:

On Tuesday, NIFTY ended higher at 18,268 (+0.8%) as it closed near the intraday high level of 18,310. Among the sectoral indices, REALTY (+3.6%), METAL (+2.7%), and MEDIA (+2.6%) ended higher, whereas PRIVATE BANK (-0.2%) was the only sector that ended lower. Among the stocks, TATAMOTORS (+6.0%), TATASTEEL (+4.2%), and SBILIFE (+3.8%) led the gainers while INDUSINDBK (-1.9%), ICICIBANK (-1.2%), and POWERGRID (-0.8%) led the losers.

Excerpts of an interview with Ms. Vibha Padalkar, MD and CEO, of HDFC Life Insurance (HDFCLIFE) with CNBC TV18 on 25th October 2021:

  • The company is bullish on prospects of the life insurance industry, assuming no covid 3rd wave takes place. As people get comfortable with the status quo, the company expects the demand for life insurance to come back.
  • The company has grown at a rate of 20%, which is faster than the industry growth rate and it is confident that it will continue to grow at this rate. VNB (Value of New Business) growth between 15-20% is possible.
  • From the product mix, Unit linked, participating, non-participating, annuity, and protection contribute around 26%, 30%, 32%,5%, and 7% of the APE (Annualised Premium Equivalent) respectively.
  • The company has paid out 2,456 claims worth Rs 5,560mn in 1HFY22, and it maintains an additional  Rs 2,000+ mn of provisions in case it needs to pay out any additional claims.
  • The company expects a 10-15% price hike in reinsurance products and it is in negotiation with its reinsurance providing partner over the price hikes. This will be done by the end of 3QFY22.
  • Individual term insurance doesn’t disproportionately contribute to the VNB of the company. The reinsurers charge HDFC life for the product over the lifetime of the policy, whereas the customers pay premium under the limited pay for 5-6 years altogether. As the period between these 2 differs, the company hasn’t yet figured out the cost it will pass on to its customers.
  • The company’s cash will go down by 12 to 14% after the acquisition and merger of Exide Life. HDFC life’s solvency may go down to 175-180% from the current 190-195%, but the profits from the next two quarters may get added on to the solvency and help bridge the gap.

 

Asset Multiplier Comments

  • As Exide Life’s agency channel will add 40% to the company’s current agency channel, the company will benefit from the effect of operating leverage. This will help improve the company’s margins.
  • The company has posted 20.8% YoY growth in APE and 23.6% YoY growth in VNB (Value of new business) numbers in 2QFY22. Given its better than industry growth rate, and the management’s confidence in maintaining it in the future, this might have a positive impact on the company’s fundamentals.
  • Increase in reinsurance costs will likely drive term insurance rates higher in the next few quarters. This may have impact on its future profitability.

Consensus Estimate: (Source: market screener website)

  • The closing price of HDFCLIFE was ₹ 690/- as of 26-Oct-2021.  It traded at 100x/ 76x/ 64x the consensus earnings estimate of ₹ 6/ 9/ 11/- for FY22E/FY23E/FY24E respectively.
  • The consensus target price of ₹ 787/- implies a PE multiple of 74x on FY24E EPS of ₹ 10.7/-.
  • In the case of life insurance companies, the embedded value per share is the correct multiple for valuing the company. The consensus estimate of this metric is not available on any of the websites.

Disclaimer: “The views expressed are for information purposes only. The information provided herein should not be considered as investment advice or research recommendation. The users should rely on their own research and analysis and should consult their own investment advisors to determine the merit, risks, and suitability of the information provided.”

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06 Sep

Exide Life to add 30-40% agency force – HDFC Life

Update on Indian Equity Market:

On Thursday, NIFTY ended at 17,378 (+0.3%). Among the sectoral indices, REALTY (+3.2%), IT (+1.5%), MEDIA (+1.3%) ended higher, whereas PRIVATE BANK (-0.5%), BANK (-0.5%), and FINANCIAL SERVICES (-0.3%) ended lower. Among the stocks, WIPRO (+5.0%), HCL TECH (+2.7%), and INFOSYS (+1.8%) led the gainers while IOC (-1.6%), IndusInd Bank (-1.2%), and ONGC (-1.2%) led the losers.

Excerpts of an interview with Ms. Vibha Padalkar, MD & CEO, HDFC Life Insurance with ET Now on 3rd September 2021:

  • The potential target company needs to have a credible distribution which Exide Life has. Exide Life has a strong agency channel and another aspect is the quality of the book.
  • Exide Life has a scale issue which is a problem for many smaller players. Presently, Exide Life has 37,000 agents and a lot of them are highly productive. This will add about 30% to 40% of agency force to HDFC Life.
  • Exide Life has a strong presence in the southern regions of India and also in tier II and III towns, about 40% of business comes from these geographies. This is complementary for HDFC Life which has a focus on Metro cities.
  • About 89% of the consideration is in share swap form. About 11% which is worth Rs 7,260mn will be a cash payout. After the share issue happens, Exide Industries will be on-boarded as HDFC Life shareholder with a 4.1% stake in the merged entity.
  • The first phase of the merger is after the CCI & IRDAI approval, HDFC Life will be able to issue shares to the seller and the entity becomes a subsidiary of HDFC Life. After that HDFC Life will go approach the NCLT for merger approval of the subsidiary into the parent company. But after the first phase HDFC Life will have a control over the business.
  • Due to the cash payout of Rs 7,260 mn, HDFC Life’s current solvency ratio will go down by about 15%. As this will happen after a few months, fresh profit will be generated by the company and the solvency ratio start recovering.
  • Exide Life’s embedded value is about Rs 27bn. HDFC Life is reasonably satisfied of the quality of their embedded value does not believe that there would be any material impact to that embedded value after HDFC Life take control of the entity.

Asset Multiplier Comments:

  • This deal has could expand HDFC Life’s presence in the southern regions of India. Growth is likely to be driven from the tier II and III towns as Exide Life has a strong presence in these geographies.
  • This deal is beneficial for HDFC Life in terms of distribution mix and product mix. This acquisition will improve the new business margins because of product mix and HDFC Life has focused on creating diversified channels and products.

Consensus Estimate: (Source: market screener website)

  • The closing price of HDFC LIFE was ₹ 735/- as of 06-Sept-2021. It traded at 100x/80x/67.7x the consensus EPS estimate of ₹ 7.3/ 9.2/ 10.8 for FY22E/FY23E/FY24E respectively.
  • The consensus target price of ₹ 777/- implies a PE multiple of 67.7x on FY24E EPS of ₹ 10.8/-
  • In the case of life insurance companies, the embedded value per share is the correct multiple for valuing the company. The consensus estimate of this metric is not available on any of the websites.

Disclaimer: “The views expressed are for information purposes only. The information provided herein should not be considered as investment advice or research recommendation. The users should rely on their own research and analysis and should consult their own investment advisors to determine the merit, risks, and suitability of the information provided.”

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28 Apr

Preference for Margins over Volume Growth: HDFC Life

Update on Indian Equity Market:

Markets were on the rise today, with Nifty increasing 212 points to 14,865. Bajaj Finance (8.0%), Indusind Bank (4.9%), and Eicher Motors (4.8%) were the top gainers on the index while Britannia (-2.0%), Hindalco (-1.0%), and Nestle (-1.0%) were the top losers for the day. Among the sectoral indices, Bank (3.0%), Private Bank (3.0%), and Financial Services (2.9%), led the gainers while Realty (-0.6%), Pharma (-0.3%), and Metal (-0.3%) ended in the red.

 

Excerpts of an interview with Ms. Vibha Padalkar, CEO of HDFC Life with Bloomberg Quint dated 28th April 2021:

 

  • HDFC Life expects to record profit margins upwards of 70% irrespective of the covid-19 impact. 
  • Company prefers to protect high profit margins and to grow moderately than chase topline growth, especially in the protection segment due to uncertainty and higher risk due to covid-19.
  • Company aims to expand into the annuity segment which is a highly lucrative and retiral segment which is showing good potential going forward.
  • The risk associated with price hike as a result of covid-19 cannot be ruled out entirely. The company ensures that the price hike will be passed over to customers in a phased manner.
  • In order to reduce risk, the company wants to diversify its product portfolio to improve contributions from annuity and protection segments

 

Asset Multiplier Comments:

  •  The Company has identified key areas, in order to sustain growth by focusing on margins cover and sustainable growth, which provides a long term positive outlook for the company.
  • These efforts will help the company grow beyond FY22 and with the expansion of the Insurance industry is poised for stellar growth.

 

Consensus Estimates (Source: market screener website):

  • The closing price of HDFC Life was ₹ 673/- as of 28-April-2021.  It traded at75x/ 67x the consensus EPS estimate of ₹ 9/ ₹ 10 for FY22E/23E respectively.
  • The consensus price target is ₹ 758/- which trades at 76x the EPS estimate for FY23E of ₹ 10/-
  • In the case of life insurance companies, the embedded value per share is the correct multiple for valuing the company. The consensus estimate of this metric is not available on any of the websites.

Disclaimer: “The views expressed are for information purposes only. The information provided herein should not be considered as investment advice or research recommendation. The users should rely on their own research and analysis and should consult their own investment advisors to determine the merit, risks, and suitability of the information provided.”

 

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